# Bat (goddess)

Part of a series on :
Ancient Egyptian religion :
Beliefs
Afterlife
Cosmology
Duat
Ma'at
Mythology
Index
Numerology
Philosophy
Soul :
Practices
Funerals
Offerings: Offering formula
Temples
Pyramids :
Deities (list)Ogdoad
Amun
Amunet
Hauhet
Heh
Kauket
Kek
Naunet
Nu
Ennead
Atum
Geb
Isis
Nephthys
Nut
Osiris
Set
Shu
Tefnut
Triads
Theban Triad
Elephantine Triad
A
Aani
Aati
Abtu
Ahmose-Nefertari
Aker
Akhty
Amenhotep I
Amenhotep, son of Hapu
Amesemi
Am-heh
Ammit
Amu-Aa
Anat
Andjety
Anhur
Anput
Anubis
Anuket
Apedemak
Apep
Apis
Aqen
Arensnuphis
Ash
Assessors of Maat
Astarte
Aten
B
Baal
Ba'alat Gebal
Babi
Banebdjedet
Ba-Pef
Bastet
Bat
Bata
Bennu
Bes
Beset
Buchis
C
Cavern deities
D
Dedun
Dionysus-Osiris
Djed
Djedefhor
Duamutef
Duau
G
Gate deities
H
Ha
Hapi
Ḥapy
Harmachis
Harpocrates
Hathor
Hatmehit
Haurun
Hedetet
Hedjhotep
Heka
Hemen
Hemsut
Henet
Heqet
Hermanubis
Hermes Trismegistus
Heru-ur
Heryshaf
Hesat
Horus
Hu
I
Iabet
Iah
Iat
Igai
Ihy
Ikhemu-sek
Imentet
Imhotep
Imsety
Ipy
Irer
Ishtar
Iunit
Iusaaset
J
Jupiter Ammon
K
Kagemni
Kebechet
Khensit
Khenti-Amentiu
Khenti-kheti
Khepri
Kherty
Khnum
Khonsu
Kneph
Kolanthes
Kothar-wa-Khasis
M
Maahes
Maat
Mafdet
Mandulis
Medjed
Mehen
Mehet-Weret
Mehit
Menhit
Meret
Meretseger
Meskhenet
Min
Mnevis
Montu
Mut
N
Nebethetepet
Nebtuwi
Nefertum
Nehebkau
Nehmetawy
Neith
Nekhbet
Nemty
Neper
Nepit
P
Pakhet
Perit
Petbe
Ptah
Ptahhotep
Q
Qebehsenuef
Qebui
Qed-her
Qetesh
R
Ra
Raet-Tawy
Rekhyt
Rem
Renenutet
Renpet
Renpetneferet
Repyt
Resheph
S
Sah
Satis
Sebiumeker
Sedjem
Seker
Sekhmet
Serapis
Serket
Seshat
Shai
Shed
Shesmetet
Shezmu
Sia
Sobek
Sopdet
Sopdu
Souls of Pe and Nekhen
T
Ta-Bitjet
Tatenen
Taweret
Tayt
Teka-her
Thoth
Tjenenyet
Tutu
U
Unut
W
Wadjet
Wadj-wer
Weneg
Wepset
Wepwawet
Werethekau
Wosret
Y
Yam :
Locations
Aaru
Benben
Duat
Land of Manu
The Indestructibles :
Symbols and objects
Aani
Ankh
Atef
Atet
Book of Thoth
Cartouche
Corn mummy
Crook and flail
Deshret
Djed
Egyptian obelisk
Egyptian pool
Eye of Horus
Eye of Ra
Griffin
Hedjet
Hemhem crown
Hennu
Hieracosphinx
Hypocephalus
Imiut fetish
Khepresh
Kneph
Matet boat
Medjed
Menat
Nebu
Nemes
Neshmet
Ouroboros
Pschent
Scarab
Seqtet boat
Serekh
Serpopard
Set animal
Shen ring
Sphinx
Tyet
Uraeus
Ushabti
Was-sceptre
Winged sun :
Texts
Funerary texts (Amduat • Books of Breathing • Book of Caverns • Book of the Dead • Book of the Earth • Book of Gates) :
Related religions
Atenism
Hermeticism
Thelema
Kemeticism (Kemetic Orthodoxy • Church of the Most High Goddess) :
Ancient Egypt portal :
vte :
Bat is a cow goddess in Egyptian mythology who was depicted as a human face with cow ears and horns or as a woman. Evidence of the worship of Bat exists from the earliest records of the religious practices in ancient Egypt. By the time of the Middle Kingdom, after the unification of Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt, her identity and attributes were subsumed within that of the goddess Hathor, a similar goddess worshipped in another nome. The imagery of Bat persisted throughout the history of ancient Egypt on the sistrum, a sacred instrument that remained associated with religious practices.

## Worship

The worship of Bat dates to earliest times in ancient Egypt and may have its origins in Late Paleolithic cattle herding cultures. Bat was the chief goddess of Seshesh, otherwise known as Hu or Diospolis Parva, the 7th nome of Upper Egypt.

### Name

The epithet, Bat, may be linked to the word ba with the feminine suffix 't'. A person's ba roughly equates to one's personality or emanation and often is translated as 'soul'.

## Depictions in ancient Egyptian culture

Although it was rare for Bat to be clearly depicted in painting or sculpture, some notable artifacts (such as the upper portions of the Narmer Palette) include depictions of the goddess in bovine form. In other instances she was pictured as a celestial bovine creature surrounded by stars, or as a woman. More commonly, Bat was depicted on amulets, with a human face, but with bovine features, such as the ears of a cow and the inward-curving horns of the type of cattle first herded by the Egyptians.
Bat became strongly associated with the sistrum and the center of her cult was known as the "Mansion of the Sistrum". The sistrum is an ankh-shaped musical instrument, which was one of the most frequently used sacred instruments in ancient Egyptian temples. Some instruments would include depictions of Bat, with her head and neck as the handle and base and with its rattles placed between her horns. The imagery is repeated on each side of the instrument, having two faces, as mentioned in the Pyramid Texts:.
    I am Praise; I am Majesty; I am Bat with Her Two Faces; I am the One Who Is Saved, and I have saved myself from all things evil.

### Relation to Hathor

The imagery of Bat as a divine cow was remarkably similar to that of Hathor, a parallel goddess from another nome. In two dimensional images, both goddesses often are depicted straight on, facing the onlooker and not in profile in accordance with the characteristic Egyptian convention. The significant difference in their depictions is that the horns of Bat curve inward and those of Hathor curve outward slightly. It is possible that this could be based in the different breeds of cattle herded at different times.
Hathor's cult center was in the 6th Nome of Upper Egypt, adjacent to the 7th nome where Bat was the cow goddess, which may indicate that once they were the same goddess in Predynastic Egypt. By the Middle Kingdom, the cult of Hathor had again absorbed that of Bat in a manner similar to other mergers in the Egyptian pantheon.